Spirited Away junior novelization
by Alias Russie Neontuhr
Summary: A ten-year-old girl is lost in a strange world she doesn't know. Will she survive? Based on the actual movie. Read it!
1. Chapter 1: Move In

**Hello! I'm a newbie, so don't pounce on me too hard. And yes, in case you're wondering, this is the exact dialogue (I hope) of Miyazaki's amazing movie Spirited Away. After all, I_ have _watched it currently 23 times, no kidding. (This fact might change in a couple of hours 'cause one never knows! It's an awesome movie!) Well anyway, enjoy! (Oh, and some reviews would be sweet. I'm new, remember, and I want to see what you guys think. Maybe I should just quit. Hmmmmm...) Oh, and I might stop midway sometimes because I don't have time. Sorry!  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't owe anything in this novel. It's all based off of Miyazaki's Spirited Away.**

**"Spirited Away junior novelization"**

**Chapter 1: Move In **

"I'll miss you, Chihiro. Your best friend, Rumi."

"Chihiro. Chihiro," her dad called from the front seat, " we're almost there."

Chihiro slowly lowered her bouquet of flowers onto her lap as she stared at nothing where she lay on the car seat.

"This really is in the middle of nowhere," her mom commented. "I'm going to have to go to the next town to shop."

"We're just going to have to learn to like it. Look, Chihiro, there's your new school," her dad added, glancing back to look at her while peering through the windshield. "Looks great, doesn't it."

"It doesn't look so bad," her mom coaxed.

Chihiro slowly lifted herself up onto her elbows and looked out the window. She stuck out her tongue at the passing school, then pressed her face onto the car seat, saying, "It's gonna stink. I liked my old school better."

Chihiro lifted her bouquet, then gasped.

"Mom, my flowers are dying!"

Her mom glanced at Chihiro's distressed expression then fixed her gaze straight ahead. "I told you not to smother them like that. We'll put them in water when we get to our new home."

Chihiro fell back against the car seat with a deflated expression. "I finally get a bouquet and it's a good-bye present"-her parents glanced at each other-"that's depressing."

Chihiro's mom picked up a card that had fallen on her lap and examined it. "Daddy bought you a rose for your birthday, don't you remember?"

"Yeah," Chihiro said, slumping. "Just one. Just one rose isn't a bouquet."

"Hold onto your card, I'm opening the window," her mom said, reaching behind to hand Chihiro her good-bye card back. "And quit whining. It's fun to move to a new place;it's an adventure."

Chihiro stared listlessly out the window as the wind blew her hair back on her face.

Her dad took a right turn, then halted the car a bit later before a road going into the woods.

"Wait, did I take the wrong turn? This can't be right."

Chihiro's mom looked to her right. "Look! There's our house!"

Chihiro's dad leaned over, trying to peer through her window. "Huh?"

She pointed. "It's that blue one on the end."

Chihiro lifted herself on her knees and stared, puzzled, at a cluster of mini stone houses on the side of the road, vaguely hearing her parents.

Her dad relaxed onto his seat. "Ah, you're right. I must have missed the turnoff. This road should take us there."

"Honey, don't take a short cut, you always get us lost."

"Trust me, it's gonna work."

The car pulled away and Chihiro leaned towards her mom, her eyes following the houses.

"What are those weird stones? They look like little houses."

Her mom glanced to the side. "They're shrines. Some people think little spirits live in them."

The car shot through the trees. "Uh, Dad, I think we're lost."

"We're fine," answered her dad with a stubborn look. "I've got four-wheel drive."

The car hit a bump. Chihiro was jerked to the side.

"Ah!" She righted herself.

"Sit down, please, sweetie," her mom said absentmindedly.

The car rounded a curve onto a rocky road. The car rocked until Chihiro lost her grip on her parents' front seats and fell back.

She spotted something through the trees. A grinning-faced statue. Chihiro got on her knees and stared after it through the back window.

The car began rocking violently. "Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Chihiro exclaimed, gripping the back seat.

"Honey, honey, honey!" her mom gripped the car in anxiety. Dad gripped the steering wheel with a mad expression on his face. "Slow down, you're going to kill us!"

"Huh?!" Chihiro's dad exclaimed, leaning forward. "What's that?"

The car broke through the trees and Chihiro's dad slammed hard on the brakes. The car came to a stop with a screech. Before them was an old red building.


	2. Chapter 2: An Abandoned Theme Park

**Disclaimer: I don't own Spirited Away or any of its characters. I wish!**

**Chapter 2: An Abandoned Theme Park**

_"_What's this old building?" Chihiro's mom inquired.

Chihiro's dad opened the car door and cut the engine. "Looks like an entrance." He walked toward a tunnel leading into the building.

Her mom leaned out the window. "Honey, get back in the car, we're going to be late!"

Chihiro got out.

"Chihiro!"

Chihiro placed her bouquet carefully back inside the car through the window and ran to her dad.

"Oh, for heaven's sake," her mom muttered.

Chihiro looped her arm around her dad's muscular left one as her put his hand on the building. "This building's not old, it's fake. These stones are just made of plaster."

He peered at the dark tunnel as if suddenly seeing it. The wind started and leaves swirled into the entrance. Chihiro gasped and reinforced her grip on her dad's arm. She looked down and then up. "The wind's pulling us in," she realized in a timid voice.

A car door slammed. "What is it?" her mom asked, coming up beside them.

"Come on, let's go see. I want to see what's on the other side."

Chihiro jerked her head up, alarmed, with a horrified expression on her face. "No! I'm not going! It gives me the creeps!" Chihiro blurted out firmly.

Her dad looked down, a patient smile on his face. "Don't be such a scaredy-cat, Chihiro." He looked up at Chihiro's mom. "Let's just take a look."

Her mom stared straight ahead. "The movers will get to our house before we do."

"S'all right. They've got the keys. They can start without us."

She rubbed her arms. "Alright, just a quick one."

"Forget it! I'm not going!" Chihiro ran to the statue her dad had stopped the car inches from and planted her feet firmly on the ground next to it. "Come on, you guys, let's get out of here!"

"Come on, honey, it's going to be all right." Her dad waved to her to come.

Chihiro stood her ground, fists balled tightly at her sides. "I'm NOT going."

She suddenly was aware of the statue standing next to her. It was the same, nearly exact replica of the one she had spotted through the trees earlier. This one had moss on it and a grinning face front and back. Chihiro felt an instinct, a wrongness that emanated from it. Chihiro leaned away from it with an uncomfortable noise in her throat.

She looked up and gasped. Her dad was disappearing from view into the dark tunnel.

Her mom paused before following him. "Just wait in the car then."

Chihiro gripped her striped green shirt in her hands and started jumping up and down nervously. "But mooooooooooom!"

She took another sideways look at the statue and leaned away more with a wary that was half-fearful, half-nervous expression. The idea of being left alone with that kind of company wasn't exactly appealing.

"Wait for me!"

Chihiro ran up to her mom, who was walking so slowly, she must've expected this, and grasped her mom's arm hard. Her dad waited up ahead. "Everyone watch your step."

"Chihiro, don't cling like that, you'll make me trip."

Chihiro only held on tighter with a pout. They came out of the tunnel into a spacious room with wooden benches and glass windows of different colors.

"Ah, do you hear that?" Her mom held a hand to her ears. Her dad cocked his head, eyebrows raising left, then right.

Chihiro listened. Rumbling on tracks. Faint whistle.

"It sounds like a train!" Chihiro observed excitedly.

"We must be near a train station," her mom replied, proud of her daughter.

Her dad grinned. "Come on, let's go check it out!"

Chihiro's expression fell but she didn't argue.

As they walked farther away from the tunnel entrance, Chihiro looked back. Something felt out of place here. And that tunnel, all dark and foreboding, creeped her out. She walked faster.

They walked onto a lush green prairie. A strong breeze greeted her, caressing Chihiro's cheek and rustling her brown ponytail. Statues stood around, randomly spaced, most as big as a building, and a small trail led to a cluster of houses that disappeared behind the hill.

"What are those weird buildings?" Chihiro asked, still staring at them.

"I knew it!" Chihiro looked up at her dad. "It's an abandoned theme park. See?"

Chihiro and her mom followed his finger and gaze to the big clock tower behind them.

"They built them everywhere in the early 90's. Then the economy went bad. They all went bankrupt. This must be one of them."

Chihiro's dad started walking away onto the trail. Her mom followed.

"Where're you going?" Chihiro yelled across the wind. "You said just a quick look! Now let's go back!"

Chihiro straightened, her arms stiff at her sides, her expression angry. She was intent on getting them out of this strange place this time. "Hey!"

_Whoosh. _

The wind whipped her hair back. Chihiro looked behind her at the red building. Groans could be heard audibly behind the savage howl of the breeze.

"Uh," Chihiro said uncertainly, then ran up the hill to catch up, all intentions forgotten.

"Did you hear that building?" Chihiro glanced back uneasily. "It was moaning."

Her mom glanced back and dismissed it. "It's just the wind. Ah, what a beautiful place. We should've brought our lunch, then we could've had a picnic."

"Look." Chihiro's dad pointed at a pile of rocks that stretched for a few hundred feet. "They were planning to build a river here."

He jumped across, then held his arm out to help his family. Suddenly he caught a whiff of something on the wind. Something... delicious. He sniffed the air again, inhaling the wonderful smells.

Footsteps sounded, then Chihiro's mom fell against him, clutching his arm with an "oof".

"Hey, you smell that?" He sniffed again. "Something smells delicious."

She sniffed the air slightly. "Yeah, and I'm starving," she agreed.

"Come on, let's go see." He started up the steps.

"Chihiro, hurry up," Chihiro's mom said, looking back.

"Wait a minute," Chihiro whined, balancing her feet on one rock, her hands on another. She leapt precariously down, then hurried to catch up, running up the steps.

Her dad paused at the top of the steps and sniffed the air in all directions. He smelled a stronger scent to his left.

"Over here," he informed and went up another small flight of steps. He paused at another road and said,"This way."

They walked through an abandoned town full of shops, following Chihiro's dad like one would a dog when looking for someone.

"How strange." Her mom looked around her. "They're all restaurants."

Chihiro jogged up a little to catch up to her mom's longer strides. "Where is everybody?"

_Another reason why we should get out of here as fast as we can_, Chihiro thought.

Her dad paused. "Ah, there it is!" He ran to one of the stalls and looked greedily at the heaps of food on the large platters. He remembered his family and poked his head around the corner. "Hey! I found it!" He waved impatiently at them to come see.

Chihiro's mom rounded the corner.

"Hey, you've gotta see this. In here."

Chihiro's mom hurried into the stall. Her eyes oogled the steaming platters of food. "Ah, look at this!"

"Hello," Chihiro's dad yelled. "Does anybody work here? Anybody?"

"Come in, Chihiro, it looks delicious!" her mom urged excitedly as she pulled a stool out to sit on.

Chihiro stood a distance away behind them. She shook her head vigorously. "Uh-uh!"

"Don't worry, honey, we can pay the bill when they get back." Chihiro's mom reached for a piece of food that looked like a chicken.

"Good plan. Hey, that looks great." He ran over to some stacks of plates.

"I wonder what this is called." Chihiro's mom bit into the soft meat and tore it off. She turned with profound glee in her bright eyes. "Oh, it's delicious! Chihiro you have to taste this!"

She shook her head. "I don't want any. We're going to get in trouble!" Chihiro had a _VERY_ bad feeling about all this, and she hated the underlying feeling that there was nothing she could do. "Let's just get out of here!"

"Don't worry," her dad answered, trying, unsuccessfully, to reassure her. "You've got daddy here."

_That's part of the problem_, Chihiro thought but did not say aloud. _You want to eat so much you're missing my point! _

Her dad continued. "He's got credit cards and cash." Her dad slid a stool next to Chihiro's mother and set down 3 plates nearly toppling with food.

"Chihiro, you've got to taste this, it's so tender!" her mom pursuaded.

"Uh-uh!"

Her dad dabbed some sauce on his plate, then set it next to his wife.

"Want some?"

"Thank-you," she mumbled, mouth full, and reaching for some chopsticks. They started gorging in on the food. Her dad gobbled up a kind of vegetable, juice running down his chin. He gobbled up a pastry and then another piece of cake. Her mom at first ate diligently, but then she began eating faster and faster.

"Come on, you guys! You can't!" Chihiro glanced around with an anxious expression on her face, then looked back at her parents' turned back. Her dad grabbed a piece of chicken off a platter and tore into it.

Chihiro's shoulders sagged down as she let out her breath with a resignated look on her face. She walked slowly away from her parents and onto the road they had originally got onto. She turned to her right and saw another long flight of steps leading up to a clock tower. She walked up that, then turned to her right again and gasped.


	3. Chapter 3: Pigs and Spells

**Do... you like it so far? Well, it's getting to one of my favorite parts! Oh, and please read a little of my other story titled _Secret Agent Russie Neontuhr. _It's not about myself, trust me. Oh, and review! Thank you, and enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Spirited Away or its characters. Didn't I just say that?**

**Chapter 3: Pigs and Spells **

"That's weird."

Chihiro walked up to the bridge connecting to a looming building, water cascading out the right side, and roofs sloping against the sky majestically.

"It's a bathhouse."

She walked onto the bridge, then stuck her head underneath the rail. A tunnel led into the mountain side underneath. A whistle sounded, then a train burst out of the tunnel.

"There's the train!" Chihiro exclaimed.

She ran to the other side of the bridge, leapt atop the rail, and leaned down to look. A sound to her right caught her attention. She looked to her right and gasped. A handsome boy about her own age stared back at her. Chihiro straightened, puzzled.

He gasped and took a halted step forward, as if quite not believing his own eyes. He recovered quickly and advance on her, his steps angry, eyes hard.

"You shouldn't be her. Get out of here, NOW!"

As he spoke, the shadows lenghtened with abrupt speed.

Chihiro jumped down, confused. "What?"

"It's almost night." He jabbed a finger at her. "Leave, before it gets dark!"

The sun disappeared and the lamps standing guard on either side of the bathhouse entrance lit up. So did the bathhouse.

The boy turned to look. "They're lighting the lamps."

Suddenly he shoved her forward, propelling her offf the bridge. "Get out of here! You've got to get across the river, go! I'll distract them!"


End file.
